Businesses’ role in providing health insurance coverage to employees was explored by industry experts Friday at the annual Dorsey Hughes Symposium at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek Resort.
With health care premiums rising 87 percent since 2000, according to one statistic, panelists questioned whether the old model of employer-sponsored coverage still works.
“At one point, it made sense for employers and insurance to go hand in hand,” said Brian Vogt, former director of Colorado’s Office of Economic Development & International Trade and now CEO of the Denver Botanic Gardens. “It made sense when employers were stable and employees by and large had careers, but all of that has changed.”
Vogt helped craft a health care reform proposal for the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce, which he headed for many years.
Susan Dentzer, health correspondent for “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,” agreed that policymakers on both sides of the political aisle appear to be moving away from employer-sponsored insurance in favor of a system that emphasizes more personal responsibility.
Dentzer said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has proposed an act that would strip businesses of the ability to deduct premiums from their tax forms and convert the savings into higher wages.
Republican presidential hopeful and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani proposed a plan to move millions out of employer-based coverage into an individual-purchased coverage market roughly three times the size of the current one.
Locally, House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, D-Denver, has said it may be time to rethink the traditional role of businesses providing health insurance, but also acknowledged it may be a hard sell politically.
But while health reform has become an issue on the campaign trail and among those in the medical industry, Jon Gabel, senior fellow at the National Opinion Research Center, said some of the fears about employer-sponsored insurance are overstated.
“I don’t feel the employer-based insurance system is falling off a cliff,” Gabel said. “It is eroding and will continue to erode.”
Gabel cited a survey from the center that showed health plans have enjoyed record profits for the sixth consecutive year. And despite much grousing from businesses about the rising costs of health insurance, few employers are dropping coverage or forcing employees into self-funded health savings accounts. He noted that 55 percent of Americans still get insurance from an employer — although the rate hasn’t grown with job creation in recent years.
Linda Dillman, executive vice president of risk management, benefits and sustainability for Wal-Mart, made the case for the retail giant as a leader in providing coverage for employees, despite some workers’ low wages.
“If we develop a wonderful program and they can’t afford it, we’ve accomplished nothing,” Dillman said.
Wal-Mart makes plans available to employees at $11 a month, with deduction options of $350, $500 and $1,000. She said 76 percent of Wal-Mart’s employees, including many part-timers, qualify for coverage.
Wal-Mart, which employs 1.2 million people, spent $5.2 billion on benefits in 2006, Dillman said.
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Source: charlotte.bizjournals.com
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